How to Grow Tobacco

OK.. I'm still confused. Is cigarette tobacco fermented? I know cigar tobacco is and this is why I'm confused. If I understand my readings correctly, green leaf tobacco has a Ph (approximately) of about 5.5. If it is fermented, the final Ph is (approximately) 7.0. The difference in Ph is why cigars are not inhaled and cigarettes are. So, it would seem to me if a Virginia Gold leaf for example is fermented, the Ph would rise, making it more suitable for a cigar and not a good tobacco to inhale.

Randy B

Hi --

Fermented yellowleaf tobacco is perfectly good for smoking in a cigarette. In fact, it's much better than flue-cured tobacco, IMO. Sweeter, mellower and with more tobacco flavor.

Bob

You can ferment any tobacco. Only cigarette tobacco is Flue Cured.

Yes I know any tobacco can be fermented. That is why I am confused. It's my understanding that a lot of the cigarettes smokers on this site are fermenting their cured leaf. Its also my understanding that fermenting raises the Ph to basic which would make that leaf into a cigar type smoke. A leaf with a Ph of 7 or higher is supposed to be too harsh to inhale. So.. maybe I should be asking.. who ferments their leaf and smokes it as a cigarette? and is it harsh or smooth? Does anyone just flue cure thei leaf?

I'm just trying to figure out the best way to proccess the cigarette leaf I grew this year so that it is a nice smooth smoke... all this trouble and I don't even smoke cigarettes

Randy B

I air cure and age my cigarette tobacco and it does the job. This hobby can be as difficult as you want it to be or as simple as you want it to be. I opt for the latter, but there are all kinds of difficult ways to do many things...I'd rather not know.

Good to know your proccess and the results! I think I'll just air cure half my Virginia Gold and ferment the other half and see what I get in the way of taste

Randy B

Oh, and I also "Toast" my tobacco. I haven't heard anyone say their tobacco tasted worse after processing it this way.

(warning - vehement indictment of flue-curing as a crime against tobacco follows - Do not proceed if you are offended by attacks on flue-cured tobacco)

Hi -

Last year I experimented with curing methods. Built a kiln.

Kilned about 20 lbs of Silk Leaf for about a month. We smoke it in cigarettes and inhale as usual. Halfway through the kiln cycle, about 2 weeks, it started emitting a very sweet honey-like odor. Smoked some and it was still a little grassy tasting, but definitely a change from the "raw" leaf. Now it's definately tobacco and not lawn clippings. After a month, it was smokable as tobacco.

This gave me time to leave the remainder of the leaf in air-curing. I had them hanging, protected, in my garage loft for around August to October and beyond. Of course we ran out of the kiln cured about then so we processed up a batch of the air-cured and it was good! We smoked that for many months leaving the leaf exposed to current temps and humidities in the meantime and it just got better. Basically, 3 months air-curing in my part of Texas with the hot temps and reasonably high humidity is enough to allow air-fermenting leaves to ferment enough to be tolerable smoke.

Aging is just longer term fermenting, after all - as far as I can tell, usually under worse conditions that take longer to work.

To me, flue-curing tobacco at home is kinda like deliberately mixing soya with your hamburger meat so you can have something closer to a Big Mac.

Fermented tobacco is so much mellower and tastier than that bland flue-cured that you would only want flue-cured if you don't like tobacco flavor. Or wanted to add tobacco to a recipe without messing with the other flavors. In which case, you'd be better off using the new Patchoulli Flavored eCigs.

Bob

Personally, I think flue curing is just a way to get the tobacco to market fast and in an acceptable condition. In Europe when much less flue cured tobacco is used in cigs they have a lower incidence of lung cancer. Just my opinion from the research I've done.